Hello I have a 2001 sebring and was wanting to know about changing the upper front ball joints and how hard it is to change the whole control arm and do I need to compress the strut spring to do so.

 

No, you do not need to compress the struts in order to replace the lower control arms. I purchased mine from Pep Boys back in 2007 and luckily they came with a life time warranty because I just had to replace them again about 3 weeks ago. First time with about 70,000 miles on her and she now has 130,000.

Have not had to replace the upper ball joints so I can not provide any input.

 

You can replace the upper ball joints without a spring compressor. If you want to replace the entire upper arm, then yes, you'll need a spring compressor.
With a ball joint press, you can press out the old and install the new ball joints without removing the upper arm.
There's a "how to" on this over at the Chrysler Sebring Convertible Club website. It shows the entire procedure as performed on the previous generation of Sebring convertibles but the procedure is the same for the 2001-2006 generation.
I've done it on my '02 sedan, which has the same suspension as the convertible. It's relatively easy. Working slowly, I did one side in the morning and one side in the afternoon.
Many auto parts stores will rent you or loan you a ball joint press. A puller is useful to remove the knuckle from the ball joint stud though you might be able to use a pickle fork.

You can't get the upper arms off without removing the entire strut and compressing the spring to remove the upper spring seat assembly which includes the upper arms. Then you can remove the mounting bolts which must slide out toward the inside. This can't be done with the spring in the way.

 

Thank you both for your input I'm not ready yet to tackle this job yet but I know I can do it. I just need to research it more.